• ATP Tour

Murray happy to have Federer within his grasp

ESPN staff
October 15, 2011
Andy Murray: "It would be nice to finish the year off No. 3" © PA Photos
Enlarge

Victory over David Ferrer on Sunday will take Andy Murray above Roger Federer to No. 3 in the world and he has admitted it is a step in the right direction for his career goals.

Murray has been in sizzling form in Asia and he brushed aside Kei Nishikori to reach the Shanghai Masters final. Victory over Ferrer will hand him a hat-trick of titles, following wins in Thailand and Japan, and take him up to third in the world rankings behind Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Third in the world is the highest Murray can finish this year, but it has been a goal for the Scot for some time.

"It would be nice to finish the year off No. 3 if I can because that would be the highest ranking I finished at," Murray said. "It's not the ultimate goal, but it's a step in the right direction... I can't really finish as the No. 2 or 1. So it's just a goal I had for the end of the month."

Commenting on his win over Nishikori, Murray said: "I served well. Got a lot of free points on my serve. I didn't give him any chances. If you can do that, then you can make life easy for yourself.

"And because the courts and the balls are very fast here, if you serve well, you're going to give yourself opportunities because you can definitely put pressure on guys by getting through a few quick service games."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices